Capt (R) Faraz Ullah Khan

Muhammad Nasir Wattoo

The University Of Lahore
Basic Electrical Engg.
Chp 2.2
Kirchoffs Laws
Charge Conservation
One Of The Fundamental Conservation
Principles In Electrical Engineering:


CHARGE CANNOT
BE CREATED NOR
DESTROYED
Node, Loops, Branches
NODE: Point Where Two,
Or More, Elements Are
Joined (e.g., Big Node 1)
LOOP: A Closed Path
That Never Goes Twice
Over A Node (e.g., The Blue Line)
The red path is NOT a loop (2x on Node 1)
BRANCH: a Component Connected
Between Two Nodes (e.g., R4 Branch)
Charge Conservation at Nodes
A Node Connects Several Components
But It DOES NOT HOLD Any Charge
By The Conservation of Charge Principle
We Have Kirchoffs Current Law:


TOTAL CURRENT
FLOWING INTO THE NODE
MUST BE EQUAL TO THE
TOTAL CURRENT OUT OF
THE NODE
NODE
Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL)
Practical Restatement of KCL
Sum Of Currents Flowing Into A Node Is
Equal To Sum Of Currents Flowing Out
Of The Node
Usual KCL Sign Convention
POSITIVE Direction INTO Node
-5A
+5A
NEGATIVE Direction OUT of Node
KCL Algebra
Two Equivalent KCL Statements
Algebraic Sum Of Currents leaving
(Flowing OUT Of ) A Node Is ZERO
Algebraic Sum Of Currents entering
(Flowing INTO) to A Node Is ZERO
Example: Use Any Sign
Convention

0
0
5 4 3 2 1

t i t i t i t i t i
t i
Node INto
Supernodes or Closed Surfaces
A Generalized Node Is Any Part Of A
Circuit Where There Is No Accumulation of
Charge. Set Of Elements Contained Within
The Surface That Are Interconnected
Suggests We Can
Make SUPERNODES
By Aggregating Nodes

0 : Add
_____ __________ __________ __________
0 : 3 Into
0 : 2 Into
7 6 5 2 1
7 5 4 2
6 4 1



i i i i i
i i i i
i i i
Supernodes cont.
INTERPRETATION: Sum Of Currents
Entering Nodes 2&3 is Zero
VISUALIZATION: We Can Enclose Nodes
2&3 Inside A Surface That Is Viewed As A
GENERALIZED Node (Or SUPERnode)
Supernode is Indicated as the GREEN
Surface on the Diagram; Write KCL Directly
0 0
7 6 1 5 2

t i t i t i t i t i t i
SuperNode
Same as Previous
KCL Problem Solving
KCL Can Be Used To
Find A Missing Current
(Currents INto Node-a) = 0


A 5
A 3
?

X
I
a
b
c
d
A I A A I
X X
2 or 0 3 5
Which Way are
Charges Flowing
in Branch a-b?
b
a
c
d
e
2A
-3 A
4A
I
be
=?
I
ab
= 2A
I
cb
= -3A
I
bd
= 4A
I
be
= ?
Nodes = a,b,c,e,d
Branches = a-b, c-b,
d-b, e-b
A I A A A I
be be
5 or 0 4 3 2
Notation Practice

UnTangling
A node is a point of connection of two or more
circuit elements.
It may be stretched-out or compressed or Twisted or
Turned for visual purposesBut it is still a node
Equivalent
Circuits
KCL Alternate Sign Convention
KCL Works Equally Well When Currents
OUT Are Defined as Positive
Write the +OUT KCL
1
2
3
4
5
Note That Node-5 Eqn is Redundant;
It Is The SUM of The Other 4
Example
Find Currents
Use +OUT
1
2
3
4
KCL Depends Only On The Interconnection.
The Type Of Component Is Irrelevant
KCL Depends Only On The Topology Of The Circuit
Example
Find Currents
Use +OUT







1
2
3
4
The Presence of the
Dependent Source
Does NOT Affect KCL
KCL Depends Only On
The Topology
Again, Node-4 Eqn is
(Linearly) Dependent on
the Other 3
Example - Supernode
Supernodes Can Eliminate
Redundancies and Speed Analysis
Shaded Region =
Supernode, S
S
0 60 20 30 40
4
mA mA mA mA I
mA I 70
4

The Current i
5
Becomes
Internal To The Node And It Is Not Needed!!!
Use +OUT
of Currents Leaving
Node-S = 0
KCL Convention: In = Out
An Equivalent Algebraic Statement of
Charge Conservation

Node of OUT Currents Node INTO Currents
mA I 50
1

mA mA mA I
T
20 40 10
1
I Find
T
I Find
Examples: In = Out
mA I
mA mA I
6
4 10
1
1

mA I mA 4 12
1

mA I I 3
2 1

1
I Find
2 1
I and I Find
mA I mA 4 10
1

mA mA mA mA I I
mA mA mA I
2 6 8 6
8 4 12
1 2
1


Find I
x
mA i
i mA
i i mA
x
x
x x
4
11 44
10 44



mA i
mA i
mA mA i i
x
x
x x
12
108 9
0 12 120 10

Find Unknown Currents
The Plan
Mark All Known Currents
Find Nodes Where All But
One Current is Known
Given
I
1
= 2 mA
I
2
= 3 mA
I
3
= 6 mA


+
-
+
-
1
I
2
2I
2
I
3
I
4
I
5
I
mA I mA I mA I 5 , 3 , 2
3 2 1

5
4
I
I
6
I
mA 2
mA 3
mA 6
mA I I I I 8 2
6 2 1 6

1
2
3
1
2
mA I I I I 5
5 5 2 6

3
mA I I I I 1
4 4 3 5

Find I
x
At Node 2


mA 1
mA 4
x
I 2
x
I
x
I FIND
mA I
mA mA I
3
0 1 4
1
1


1
I
mA I I
I I I
X
X X
3
2
1
1


mA mA I I c
mA I mA I b
X b
X b
2 4 2 )
2 1 )


b
I
1
2
b

I
1
is Opposite
the Assumed
Direction

At Node 1

Verification at
Nodes b & c
c
KCL & Direction Summary Demo
A
B
C
D E
F
G
A I
DE
10
A I
EG
4
EF
I
A 5
x
I

x
I
__ to __ from flows current BD On

EF
I
__ to __ from flows current EF On
A 3
0 10 ) 3 ( ) 5 ( A A A I
X
-8A
B
D
0 10 4 A A I
EF
6A
E F
For I
x
use I
out
= 0


Note Directions for I
DE

and I
EF
and I
EG
For I
EF
use I
out
= 0


Home Work Problem
Lets Work This
Problem
12 mA
3 mA
2 mA
4 mA
I
x
I
y
I
z
Find
z y x
I I I